The present invention relates generally to computer navigation. Particularly, the present invention in its preferred embodiment relates to a navigation system for a computer information service.
Online information services today offer a variety of services to their subscribers. For example, subscribers of the CompuServe.RTM. Information Service may retrieve information from a repository maintained by the service or possibly, by a third party provider. In addition, CompuServe subscribers may communicate with other subscribers. Communications may occur in real time as subscribers initiate and join ongoing "chat" sessions managed by the information service. CompuServe subscribers may also communicate directly with one another as well as with non-members via electronic mail (email.) Special interest forums within CompuServe also provide opportunities for subscribers to communicate with one another. Internet and World Wide Web access provides CompuServe subscribers with additional information sources to search and another community of computer users with which to communicate. Finally, CompuServe subscribers may perform specialized tasks such as shopping and banking online. In many instances, to perform these tasks, subscribers communicate with a computer system designed and maintained by a third party provider. For subscribers, CompuServe is a conduit for completing these tasks.
In order to attract and keep new subscribers, online information services have attempted to increase the amount of available information, expand communication facilities, and provide additional support for performing specialized tasks online. Increasingly, computer information services are becoming dependent upon third party providers to help them expand and grow because the costs of developing and providing specialized services internally may be too great. Many third party providers, however, are reluctant to make their products and services available through only one computer information service. The third party information and service providers (for example, merchants who offer their products online) would like potential customers to have a number of choices that facilitate access to their online offerings. Consequently, computer information services may have fewer opportunities to offer unique information and services because third party providers want to make their products and services available to computer users directly, through several computer information services, or through the Internet. As information services offer increasingly overlapping information and services, subscribers may experience difficulties discerning the differences between them.
In addition to noticing similarities regarding information content and types of services, today's computer information service subscribers may notice similarities in the user interfaces (or means by which subscribers communicate or interact with the information service.) Online information services today generally take advantage of graphical user interface technology in designing and implementing a user interface that allows subscribers to access the service. In general, graphical user interfaces allow computer users to perform tasks using windows that serve as workspace within a program.
The computer screen on which windows appear and disappear is often referred to as a "desktop." Windows that appear on the desktop are typically rectangular work areas containing a number of components or screen objects with which a user may interact. The components or screen objects are pictorial representations of recognizable items and are often referred to generally as icons. For example, a window may contain icons that look like buttons the user may "push." Typically, a screen cursor or pointer, usually displayed as a small arrow, allows the computer user to point at and select individual items appearing on the screen. The screen cursor or pointer moves around the screen in response to a pointing device (e.g., a mouse, trackball, finger) operated by the user. So that a user may select or "click on" an item appearing on the screen, pointing devices usually include a switch (e.g., a mouse button) that the user operates or "clicks" to notify the computer that a choice has been made. Some windows may contain items that must be "double-clicked" with two clicks of the mouse button to be selected. Other items may require the use of either a "right" mouse button or a "left" mouse button to make a selection.
Windows may also contain menus with grouped or categorized commands and options that the user may "select." Menu items are typically displayed in a menu bar that appears at the top of a window or workspace. When a menu is selected, typically, another menu called a "pull-down" menu appears. The second or submenu may include a number of additional items such as a specific action or another menu.
A graphical user interface enables a subscriber to interact with a computer information service by operating a computer mouse or trackball to select pictorial representations of information items or tasks. For example, a subscriber may select a "Shopping" button to enter an online shopping mall or a "Home/Leisure" button to locate information about a favorite hobby. Alternatively, a subscriber may select a menu item or series of items to accomplish a specific task. For example, a subscriber may select the menu item "Read mail" in order to read any new email messages. In general, combinations of buttons and menu items are presented to subscribers to assist them in "navigating" to a particular area or destination. Subscribers navigate to an area of the information service in which they may accomplish a specific goal such as locating needed information or performing a desired task.
Although the advent of the graphical user interface has made computers easier to use, subscribers often experience difficulties navigating computer information services because the user interface for communicating with the service is not intuitive. Subscribers who do not have specific goals in mind may find casually browsing the service to be difficult. For example, icons with similar visual characteristics may be used to represent broad categories of information (for example, Entertainment and Home/Leisure) or activities (for example, Shopping and Internet.) Even if subscribers find an item they would like to select, they may have trouble making the selection. Subscribers must remember whether they should singleclick, double-click, right-button click, or left-button click to make the selection. The variety of operations for making selections may confuse users more than it helps them.
In some instances, users may be required to select menu items to perform specific tasks or activities (for example, Create Mail.) In fact, many services today use a "menu tree" for organizing information. Each item on a menu may be viewed as a branch to another menu so that conceptually, the system of menus and branches looks like a tree. As information and services are added, the tree becomes more complex. The use of menus to accomplish tasks requires that subscribers know prior to selecting the item where it is located. If subscribers do not know the location of a particular item, they are forced to search through all the menus, possibly at a number of levels, in order to locate the desired item.
Navigating an information service may be difficult even for subscribers who know what they want to do. Subscribers who know what they want to do need to locate the areas where they may accomplish their goals. The areas may be difficult to find because they require subscribers to enter long series of mouse clicks and menu selections. Subscribers may become lost when they make a wrong selection. A large number of clicks and menu selections may be necessary even if subscribers make correct choices along the way. Furthermore, in windowed environments, multiple selections often result in layered windows on subscribers' desktops making it even more confusing for them to determine whether they are in a location in which a specific task may be accomplished.
The lack of consistency and uniformity in the use of visually similar icons as well as in the use of menu items for some actions may leave subscribers confused, albeit unconsciously. Subscribers may be required to use a lengthy combination of button and menu selections in order to perform a particular task. Furthermore, different combinations of selections may be required to accomplish goals that, from the perspective of subscribers, are similar. Consequently, for many subscribers, the complexity in navigating computer information services derives not from the vastness of available information and services, but from the complexity of the environment in which tasks are completed.
Subscribers to computer information services today have a need for an improved method of navigation. The present invention overcomes the problems and disadvantages of current navigational methods by introducing consistency and uniformity in the computer information service user interface. The navigational method of the present invention is based on a model of computer/user interaction in which users are graphically prompted for a topic of interest, a subtopic of interest, and an associated action. Subscribers may make their selections in one of several orders. Once the three selections have been made, the information system assists subscribers by presenting customized content areas in which their specific goals may be accomplished. The advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying claims.